Waterloo ABBA

” Waterloo ” is by ABBA, the Swedish pop group. The song was taken from their second Album by the same name. Written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, with vocals by both Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
” Waterloo ” was to be the first single for both Epic and Atlantic labels and the first single to be credited as the group ABBA.
The song isn’t about the famous battle in Belgium where Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Duke of Wellington in 1815, but a metaphor for a woman’s submission to a man’s advances and her finally falling in love with him, he’s her ” Waterloo “. ABBA references the battle when using the metaphor throughout the song.
The song won the Eurovision Song Contest on the 6th of April 1974 and laid the foundations to Worldwide fame and fortune for ABBA. The Swedish version of the song had the flip side as ” Honey, Honey “, while the version in English featured ” Watch Out ” on the reverse side.
Written originally with a title of ” Honey Pie ” and as a sort of Rock and Jazz, type feels, only to be ditched later, for now, more familiar and indeed popular disco rhythm.
” Waterloo ” went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 by six points, what was unusual at the time is the group sung the song in English and not their native tongue.
Not only did ABBA win the Eurovision Song Contest but the song enjoyed success across the World. In the United Kingdom, it reached number one and held it for two weeks, becoming the group’s first of 9 UK number ones.
Success didn’t end there though; Abba scored a Number One with ” Waterloo ” in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland.
In addition to topping the charts in those countries, the song also reached the top three in Austria, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the group’s native country of Sweden.
Abba also enjoyed success with ” Waterloo ” outside of Europe with a top ten placement in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Rhodesia. In the United States, the song reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.